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August 03, 2006
Meebo Me Widget - Anonymous IM on your homepage
Want to chat with your users live on your website without expensive big-name web-based chat software for libraries? Read on!
Meebo (your friend and mine for getting around IM restrictions on computers) has introduced a widget called MeeboMe. This is hugely significant and you need to pay attention to the rest of this post. Please.
Why is this important? You can, for free, add this widget to your a page on your website and let your users chat with you live through this little chat box. Better yet, they can enter anonymously. They don't have to have Yahoo!, AIM, or MSN messengers installed. As long as they can access your website, they can chat with you.
You as the library staffperson need to be logged in, and you can see (if you want to) a list of every current visitor on the site, who shows up as a contact on the Meebo contact list. If the person wants to talk to you, (s)he can initiate a chat. You as the library staffperson can initiate too, though I'd advise against that. Wouldn't it freak you out if someone started chatting you up when you visited a site?
Meebo's privacy policy, terms of service, and "is it safe" FAQ on the product are important to read, but straightfoward enough to understand and much more privacy-oriented than the commercial chat services' TOSs, which basically say "we own everything, sucker."
To me, MeeboMe would not be a replacement for offering IM Reference--which puts you where your users are, in their IM client of choice. MeeboMe may be, however, a replacement for the expensive web-based chat clients that libraries are using (QuestionPoint, Tutor.com, etc.). This puts you right on the website--simple chat back and forth, low tech requirements, no need to learn some new crazy interface. For more on the cons of these big web-based chat products, see my presentation at the last Virtual Reference Desk Conference.
I've been toying with the idea of the benefit of connecting with users through our website with technology like this--but most of the solutions cost money...big money. This one's free.
Interested? Leave a comment. Let's discuss the potential impact on libraries of this new Meebo creation!
August 3, 2006 | Permalink
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Comments
Sometime we need a way to inform teachers and student about what is going on in the tech. world. The easier to use the better with busy teachers. As far as safety goes who can tell what is or isn't. School has to filter so we try to keep out something. With public library it different. Also some patrons would rather send a note then come in person or call.
Posted by: Allice | May22, 2007
Fair enough...
Posted by: Sarah Houghton (LiB) | August 9, 2006
i think privacy issues belong under the intellectual freedom umbrella. it's not like patron privacy is an issue because we're concerned about identity theft. we're concerned about the open exchange of ideas, and open means without surveillance.
thanks for your thoughts - i'm trying to start some public discussion about it.
Posted by: | August 8, 2006
If Meebo is filtered, would MeeboMe still work? It depends on how it's being filtered--by word, by URL, by IP range, some other method (?). I'd try it and see.
What's my take on intellectual freedom and commercial IM networks? I take it you mean user privacy and IM, rather than intellectual freedom. But that said, it's a big concern for me. Deleting user records is a wonderful thing. I recommend that libraries not log their IM reference transactions. We don't record our phone calls; why log these? I also always recommend linking to some of the anonymous service options (listed by EPIC at http://epic.org/privacy/tools.html#chat) so that your users know they're out there. I agree with your words exactly: educating our users about online privacy is better than not offering a service at all for fear of privacy concerns. We know the big Gov't is tapping people's phone lines as we speak, but we're still offering reference via phone. We can let people know that their commercial services like AIM & Yahoo! are logging their IM conversations, but beyond that, our duty is to provide services in the media that our users use and prefer, IM included.
Posted by: Sarah Houghton (LiB) | August 8, 2006
sarah, two questions :
one - if meebo is filtered, does meebome still work?
two - what's your take on intellectual freedom and commercial IM networks?
AOL reports that they work with law enforcement on every type of crime "because AOL was used to communicate or there is some trace evidence". (new york times, feb 4, 2006). http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/04/technology/04privacy.html
(For clarification, I'm not devillishly advocating - my stance is that reference questions shouldn't be subject to this kind of scrutiny, and yet, you can't pick which IM service your patrons use. Education about online privacy is better than not offering a service on privacy grounds).
Posted by: | August 7, 2006
I put this widget on Librarytourguide and am still tweaking with it, trying to get it to work. The folks at Meebo are working on it - so it is still a little buggy. I *LOVE* this idea for a widget. Keep your eye on the Meebo people, they are doing great things!
Posted by: Sandra Stewart | August 4, 2006
Cool, Sarah, and timely. I need to update the Colorado College Library IM page before school starts, and I'm considering putting this widget there. If it works well, I like your idea of making it a more more omnipresent part of the site.
I also need some status indicators that actually work--anyone?
Posted by: Steve Lawson | August 4, 2006
Heck yes! What a great idea to have it available on all of the pages where your users will theoretically need help. The page that lists your databases and eBooks collections (people have trouble logging in). Research guides (for more help and subjects you haven't covered). FAQ page (if the Q they have isn't there). On and on and on. Heck, why not make it a permanent part of your navigation frame and have it on every page?
Posted by: Sarah Houghton (LiB) | August 4, 2006
I just set this up on my library employee page and then realized that it would be even cooler to have it on my research guides.
Our library has talked about finding alternatives to vendor-supplied chat clients, but didn't want to go IM-only because not all of our users have IM accounts. MeeboMe really addresses this problem and can be embedded anywhere - on our "Ask A Librarian" page or on our research guides. I'm very excited about it.
Posted by: John | August 4, 2006
